Seahawks undrafted rookie DT Ford turns heads

Arizona Cardinals: Steve Wilks' team got a rare chance to celebrate on Sunday,
topping the Green Bay Packers in the snow at Lambeau Field, but they lost two
more starters to injury, guard Mike Iupati (knee) and wide receiver Christian
Kirk. However, Kirk's season-ending broken foot shouldn't put a damper on his
rookie season, which he capped with 54 yards on three catches and a 23-yard
rush on Sunday. "His playmaking ability, I thought we saw that throughout the
year, whether it was vertical down the field, on the perimeter, the screen
game, the reverse," Wilks said Monday. "And the things you don't see, like his
preparation. This guy is a pro's pro. The future is very bright with him." The
second-round pick saved 60 of his total yards for what proved to be the
Cardinals' game-winning drive in Green Bay.

Los Angeles Rams: Forget back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards --
Aaron Donald's latest gem of a game against the Detroit Lions has many
suggesting he should be considered in the NFL MVP race. Donald notched
multiple sacks for the fifth time in his past six games and now leads the NFL
in sacks (16.5) by four and QB hits (32) by seven. His second takedown of
Matthew Stafford came after Donald beat a double team, and he jarred the ball
free to set up a critical touchdown for a 10-point lead. The last defensive
player to get serious consideration for MVP was J.J. Watt, who finished
second, 13 votes behind Aaron Rodgers (31), after totaling 20.5 sacks in 2015.
Alan Page (1971) and Lawrence Taylor (1986) are the only defensive players
ever to win the award.

San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers fell to 2-10 and were officially eliminated
from the playoffs with a loss to the Seahawks, but Kyle Shanahan was impressed
by running back Jeff Wilson Jr., an undrafted rookie from North Texas who had
15 carries for 61 yards and eight catches for 73 yards in his second NFL game.
"Jeff played very well," Shanahan said. "He earned that last week, how he
played, but it got stronger, especially having (starter Matt) Breida (hurt) in
pregame warmups. We were going to give Jeff a lot anyways." Wilson performed
despite battling through a foot injury on Sunday and could get another big
opportunity this week with Breida (ankle) already ruled out against the Denver
Broncos.

Seattle Seahawks: There were several standout performances for the Seahawks on
Sunday, but one came from a particularly unheralded player: undrafted rookie
nose tackle Poona Ford. "Poona did a really good job, he played really, really
well," coach Pete Carroll said Monday, adding the team credited Ford with six
tackles compared to the four in the official box score. "That's a lot of
production for the nose tackle, but it was because he was running and chasing
the football so well. And he's a really instinctive football player. ... We're
really encouraged about that. Love to see that he has that much mobility and
can go sideline to sideline."

--Field Level Media

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